Starship Asterisk*

Total Solar Eclipse Shadow from a Balloon

Explanation: Where were you during the Great American Eclipse of 2017? A year ago last week, over 100 million of people in North America went outside to see a partial eclipse of the Sun, while over ten million drove across part of the USA to see the Sun completely disappear behind the Moon -- a total solar eclipse. An estimated 88 percent of American adults saw the eclipse either personally or electronically. One of the better photographed events in human history, images from the eclipse included some unusual vistas, such as from balloons floating in the Earth's stratosphere. About fifty such robotic balloons were launched as part of NASA's Eclipse Ballooning project. Featured is a frame taken from a 360-degree panoramic video captured by one such balloon set aloft in Idaho by students from Brazil in conjunction with NASA and Montana State University. Pictured, the dark shadow of the Moon was seen crossing the Earth below. Although the total eclipse lasted less than three minutes, many who saw it may remember it for a lifetime. Many North Americans will get a another chance to experience a total solar eclipse in 2024.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

Wow...What a view....my thought.... don't pull the little red tabs on the window....

My shot from Salem, Oregon.

:---[===] *

"Total Solar Eclipse Shadow From a Balloon." I don't know what the scale of the portion of Earth is, but in any way you look at it, that must be some gigantic balloon to cast such a huge shadow! Maybe one way to avoid this is to make the balloon material out of clear see through plastic? Just an idea.

Geographic challenge: who can identify where the [center] Moon's shadow is from the visible land features?

BDanielMayfield wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:48 pm
Geographic challenge: who can identify where the [center] Moon's shadow is from the visible land features?

Over Saddle Mountain west of Jefferson County, Idaho

I bet there is a flat earth explanation for this.

Astronymus wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 4:52 pm
I bet there is a flat earth explanation for this.

But Saddle Mountain west of Jefferson County, Idaho has negative curvature

Astronymus wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 4:52 pm I bet there is a flat earth explanation for this.

I'm no Flat Earther, ( ) but I'm pretty sure most of the curvature is due to the wide angle lens.

BTW, didn't there used to be an emoji that was nauseous? If so, what happened to it?

FLPhotoCatcher wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:36 am BTW, didn't there used to be an emoji that was nauseous? If so, what happened to it?

I don't think we ever had one.

Speaking of flat earth theories, have you heard the last ones? Turns out that the Earth is flat, but laid on the surface of a giant, giant ice ball with a little sun that's a tiny fraction of the size of the ice ball heating it, and that's why our world isn't frozen. I'm still doubtful about where the sun goes at night (is there a tunnel in the ice ball through which the sun goes?) but it's fun to see that the longer they think and try to apply science, the closer they come to the fact that the earth is a sphere.

Soon they'll say that the earth is actually flat, but is just wrapped around a big rock ball!